Tiger attack!

[dr_kromm]

Cats are, for the most part, cute. Take my little cat, Zephyra. As of our last weigh-in, she had approximately 1/28 my mass. She is tiny – that's the first thing most people notice about her. Actually, it's the second thing. The first thing they notice is her cerebellar hypoplasia (CH). This is important for the next part of the story.

Last week, while Bonnie was at her baladi class, I finished up work and headed down to my elliptical trainer to put in some cardio time. Zephyra decided to run ahead of me, which for a CH cat is closer to the zig-zag dash they teach soldiers to use when there's a sniper around. So I had to avoid stepping on her . . . and then she lurched under my foot during my sidestep, which resulted in me putting that foot way out ahead.

As a result, I pitched forward. Of course, there was a small, fragile cat in the way, so I deliberately rolled away from her instead of falling sensibly. And as I was headed off to exercise, I had a water bottle in hand, which naturally messed up the landing.

Bam. Right on the upper right arm. The results are in the image to the right. That was caused by a 6-lb. cat. I suspect that I could convince somebody gullible that a full-sized tiger did it by smacking me with its claws retracted. It's further proof that you can't take the tiger out of the mog, anyway.

PS: The Left 4 Dead 2 demo is out! I played it some last night, and will play it more again tonight. All told, I'm happy with it. This has nothing to do with tigers and everything to do with zombies, but two trivial posts in one day would be excessive.

Comments

[wombattery.livejournal.com]

You'd think that our domesticated wolfpack (five mutts, probably totaling 350 lbs.) would cause a lot of damage, but it's precisely because they're more robust that they don't. As one walks from one room to another, stepping over a minefield of dogs which have flopped down to nap nearby, they've developed a habit of looking up as you step over them, just in time for you to inadvertently kick them in the head. Being dogs of very little brain, they seem not to notice accidental blows which would at the very least hospitalize a tiny cat, so avoiding them isn't as important.

(I've also established to my satisfaction that one of them is fireproof, though using him as a potholder is problematic.)

[dr-kromm.livejournal.com]

Your dogs' order of magnitude more mass makes a huge difference, scaling C-scale harm down to merely D-scale harm. Also, floppy dogs have a much smaller cross section than rolling cats.

[aota.livejournal.com]

I have four cats, herding my little tripping hazards down the stairs is crazy work. After seeing a video of a cat with cerebellar hypoplasia I can imagine its a challenge to maneuver around Zephyra at anytime. Get well.

[dr-kromm.livejournal.com]

Thanks! It isn't a big deal, whence "amused" as my mood for it. I've had much worse, and for dumber reasons.

As for videos, you can actually see zephyra in these ones that Bonnie posted a while back:

[zonemind.livejournal.com]

Kinetic!

My own cat is huge and only slightly less phlegmatic than I am. Even so, he is responsible for a dent in the hallway wall that I made with my face.

[morningapproach.livejournal.com]

ouch :(

I am glad to hear that L4D2 is good, we preordered it on Steam but haven't played it at all yet.

[dr-kromm.livejournal.com]

Well, the demo is cool. Whether the full game is cool . . . we'll see on November 17. I like zombies, so I suspect that I'll be happy!